Hitching device



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. G. MAUK.

HITGHING DEVICE.

Patented Jan, 26, 1886.

lmu g (No ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. G. MAUK.

HITOHING D EVIGE.

No. 334,963. Patented Jan. 26, 1886.

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VILLIAM G. MAUK, OF BASIL, OHIO.

HITCHHNG DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 33%,963, dated January 26,1886. Application filed October 29, 1885. Serial No. 181,246. No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM G. MAUK,"a citizen of the United States, residing at Basil, in the county of Fairfield and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hitching Devices; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which vwill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved hitching device,showing it in position. Fig. 2 is a top view of the device. Fig. 3 is a side view of the portion of the device attached to the harness. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section on line xx, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 isahorizontal longitudinal section of the device, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the several parts of the device separated.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

My invention has relation to devices adapted to be secured to a set of harness, and having means for connecting it to devices secured upon the shafts of a vehicle, doing away with the traces and reducing the places of attachment between the harness and vehicle to two places; and it consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of the same, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,the letterA indicates a portion of one ofthe thills or shafts of a vehicle.

B is one of the tugs of a set of harness. G is the holdback-strap passing from the breechingstrap of the harness. D is a back-strap, and E is the belly-band, all these parts of a set of harness being shown as belonging at the right side of the harness.

F is a cylindrical casting having near its rear end an upwardly -projecting bail, G, to

which the lower end of the back-strap is secured, and a downwardly-projecting bail, H,

I to which the upper end of the belly-band is secured, and the casting has a bore, I, having an enlarged portion, J, forming a rearwardlyfacing annular shoulder, K. A piston, L,

slides within the enlarged portion of the bore, and has its rod M projecting through the forward end of the cylinder, where it is provided with a removable eye or loop, N, and the forward face of the piston bears against the rear end of a spiral spring, 0, which is wrapped around the piston rod and bears against the shoulder in the bore with its forward end.

The tug is attached to the eye at the end of the piston-rod, and the spring will serve to cushion the draft upon the tug, and the rear end of the bore in the cylinder is closed by a screw-threaded plug, P, which fits into the interiorly-threaded rear end, and is provided with an eye, Q, at its outer end, into which eye the holdbaclestrap is secured.

The outer side of the cylindrical casting F is formed near its rear end witha conical projection, R, which is formed with a boreor perforation, S, axial to the cone, and theouter end of the cone is out off and formed with diametrically-opposite notches, T, at the highest and lowest points of the annular face 7 5 surrounding the end of the perforation.

A vertical perforation, U, intersects the horizontal bore at right angles, and the upper end of this perforation is enlarged, as shown at V, and a cylindrical casing, W, placed 83 with its open lower end within the enlargement, and a pin, X, plays in the perforation and through a perforation, Y, in the closed upper end of the cylindrical casing.

A spiral spring, Z, bears against the closed 8 5 top of the cylindrical casing, and against a shoulder, A, upon the pin, being wrapped around the pin, and serves to force the pin down into the perforation, the pin having a ring, 13, at its upper end, for drawing it upward.

A clip, 0, cylindrical in shape, and having two downwardly-projecting lips, D, at the edges of its longitudinal slit, fits upon the shaft and may be clamped upon the same by means of a nutted bolt, E, which passes through perforations F in the lips, and the inner side of this clip is provided with an inwardly-projecting bolt, G, having a vertical perforation, H, which bolt may fit within the bore in the 109 conical projection upon the device, and the vertical pin may pass through the vertical perforation in the bolt when the latter is inserted into the bore. Around the inner end of this bolt is formed an annular face or shoulder, I, which is provided with two diametri' cally-oppcsite vertical lips, J J, which fit into the notches in the annular face of the conical projection, preventing the bolt from turning within the bore of the said projection. It will thus be seen that the bails of the cylindrical casting may be attached to the lower end of 5 the back-strap and the upper end of the bellyband, whereupon the short tug may be secured tothe forward spring-cushioned eye, and the holdbaclcstrap secured to the eye at the rear end of the casing at each side of the to harness.

The cylindrical clips, which are secured upon the shafts with their bolts pointing inward, will engage into the horizontal bores in the casting, when they are brought to register w'ith the same, and the spring-actuated pins will automatically drop'into their perforations after they have been raised for the insertion of the bolts, and after the bolts have been inserted. It will thus be seen that there are only two places of attachment between the harness and the vehicle, and the bolts upon the shafts may be inserted into their bores in a moment of time, rendering the device very convenient and effective for use, saving a great 15 quantity of time in hitching a horse up in a a vehicle having shafts.

The springs cushioning the pistons, to which the tugs are attached, will accomplish the yield or give otherwise obtained from the single-tree, allowing the shafts to rock when the front wheels are passing over obstructions, and the springs will also save the horse in starting, when they will cushion the jar and by their gradual expansion after the first hard pull, they will give back some of the power which was stored within the springs in starting.

All parts of the entire device may be separated for repair or other purposes, the for- 0 ward eye being removable from the end of the piston-rod, which may be removed, together with the spring, after the rear eye and its screw-plug have been removed.

The cylindrical casing at the upper end of 5 the vertical perforation in the conical projection may be removed from the enlargement in the said perforation, allowing the pin and its spring to be removed, thus rendering all the parts of the device detachable.

Havingthus described myinvention, Iclaim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a hitching device, the combination of a casting secured to the harness and having 5 a horizontal perforation or bore in its side, a bolt projecting horizontally inward from the shaft of a vehicle, fitting within the bore and having a vertical perforation at its end, and a vertically-sliding bolt passing through the bore of the casting and through the perfora tion of the'bolt, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. In a hitching device, the combination of a casting secured at each side of the har- 6 ness and having a conical projection upon its outer side, formed with a horizontal bore having vertical notches in the annular face at its outer end, and formed with a vertical perforation intersecting the bore, and provided with an enlargement at its upper end, a cap fitting in the enlargement and having a perforation at its closed upper end, a pin sliding in the vertical perforation and with its upper end in the perforation of the cap, having a ring at its upper end, a spiral spring bearing against the closed upper end of the cap and a shoulder upon the pin, and a clip secured upon the shaft of a vehicle, and hav ing an inwardly-projecting bolt formed with a vertical perforation registering with the Vertical perforationin the bore, and with an annular shoulder at its inner end having vertical lips engaging the notches in the face of the conical projection, as and for the purpose shown and set forth. 85

3. In a hitching device, the combination of a cylindrical casting having a horizontal per foration or bore in its outer side and having bails projecting upward and downward near its rear end and a longitudinal bore enlarged to form a rearwardly-facing shoulder, a piston Within the bore having a tugeye at the forward end of its rod, a spiral spring bearing against the piston and against the shoulder formed within the bore, a screwplug fitting in the rear end of the bore and having a holdback-strap eye, and a bolt projecting inward from the shaft of a vehicle and engaging into the horizontal bore in the casting, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

4. In a hitching device, the combination of a cylindrical casing having a laterally-projecting conical projection formed with a horizontal bore intersected by a vertical perforation and having vertical notches in the annular face of its outer end, and having a longitudinal bore enlarged to form a rearwardly-facing shoulder, bails projecting upward and downward from the rear portion of the casting, a piston sliding within the bore and having its rod provided at its forward end witha tugeye, a spiral spring bearing against .the piston and the shoulder within the bore,

a screw-plug at the end of the bore having an eye at its rear end, a cap fitting in the enlarged upper end of the vertical perforation in the conical projection, a pin sliding in the said perforation and in a perforation in the top of the cap, a spring bearing against the top of the cap and against a shoulder upon the pin, and a clip having perforated lips at its free edges provided with a nutted bolt for clamping it upon a shaft, and having an inwardly-projecting bolt havinga vertical perforation, and an annular shoulder at its base formed with vertical lips, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature 3 MAUK. 

